The Shadow and the Flame
by Kamikaze Wraith
Summary: The right information is not given. Shirou makes a mistake. The consequences are... unexpected, to say the least. ShirouRinDark Saber
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Kotomine… Kirei!"

The dagger found its target and plunged inwards, shearing through clothing and tissue alike. Kotomine staggered backwards, his hands scrabbling at his chest in a futile attempt to pull the blade out. His eyes looked not at his wound, but into Shirou's, staring intently.

"I gave this dagger to that Tohsaka girl many years ago."

Shirou said nothing, baffled by the fact that Kotomine was still standing, even with Azoth rammed through his heart.

Kotomine went on.

"Back then, when I have her the dagger, I thought it a simple game. How ironic, then, that it would be the instrument of my undoing. But," A sinister smile spread across his face, "you did not release the energy inside it. You did n-ugh!"

Kotomine Kirei stumbled backwards, and his still smiling corpse fell down into the black pool of the Grail's essence.

It was over.

Or so it seemed. Shirou could not help the feeling that something, somewhere, was terribly wrong. His thoughts were soon diverted, however, when the structure of the Grail started shaking, and Ilya fell from her position at the top.

Shirou ran to the edge of the black pool, catching Ilya on a hastily Traced blanket at the nick of time.

_Kotomine was the one who put Ilya there_, he thought, _if she was released, then it means that he… he really is dead_.

As if to finally banish all fear from his mind, a voice rang out through the air, filled with happiness.

"Shirou!"

It was Saber, walking towards him, smiling. This was it. Shirou's misgivings had been unfounded. His heart swelled with joy.

And then it happened.

As Shirou turned around, a disfigured body, clutching the dagger Azoth, rose from the Grail's ichor, fighting to rise upwards. It found a handhold on solid ground, and it rose. The dagger rammed it into Shirou's back, the force of the blow enough to rip apart skin, muscle and bone, the dagger penetrating far enough to be seen protruding from Shirou's chest. In blind shock, the boy dropped Ilya to the ground, saving her as the body of Kotomine Kirei dragged him down with him into the darkness.

The last thing Shirou saw before plunging into the black ooze was Saber's horrified face.

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_You may have heard, once, about how people can change things. Turn good into evil, death into life, pain into happiness._

_You may have heard how to turn tragedy into hope. _

_Ugliness into beauty._

_A murder into art._

_But how do you turn a curse into a blessing? How do you change something that seeks only to consume your soul into your greatest power? How can you pursue your dreams if the world itself seems to conspire against you?_

_Some would say that you can't. Sooner or later you would have to give in._

_But they are wrong. And if one can defeat the curse, and through one's own flaws find their power, then they will achieve their dream._

_You may wonder who I really am and why I say this. Come, and I will tell you a tale like none you have ever heard..._


	2. Chapter I

Disclaimer: FSN is not mine, bitches.

(All credit for editing goes to DarckRedd)

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**Chapter I: Shadow of the Wraith**

It couldn't have happened. It simply couldn't have.

It.

Could.

Not.

Have.

Happened.

But it did.

Saber… Arturia… stared. That was all she did. The horror kept her from doing anything else.

Her mind, however, was in turmoil.

'_No… no… please, please let it be another nightmare, __**please**__…'_

The image of Shirou's body arching back, a bloodied dagger protruding from his chest, was played again and again in her brain.

'_It can't be real.'_

Shirou dropping Ilya as his body spasmed in shock.

'_We've just won… this can't be happening. It's not real. It's not real. It's not real.'_

Shirou dragged into the black pool. The vile priest's final act of revenge.

'_It's… but… no… it…'_

She refused to believe what she saw. But things weren't changing.

She was not waking up.

This wasn't a nightmare.

'_No… please… I've lost too much… Shirou… Shirou… SHIROU!'_

It was true. Shirou was gone; he was being consumed by the Grail. And she was just staring, watching him die.

No. She couldn't allow that to happen. This was no illusion she could flee from. Shirou, who had done so much for her, was about to die a horrible death.

The lion within her awoke, and with a blood curdling roar Arturia Pendragon lifted Excalibur and charged, jumping into the Grail's essence.

------------------------------------------------

Darkness.

The voices of a million dead men, ordering her to give in. To come with them and share in their misery.

Hands grasped at her body, wanting nothing more than to take her down to them. The beasts of the Grail were illusions hungry for reality, and here she was, real and existing, ripe for the picking.

She should have fallen. Before the events of the current War, Saber knew she probably would not have been able to resist.

But now, now she was here for a reason.

She needed Shirou.

A lone voice cut through the cacophony generated by the screams of the dead,

"_Don't worry old man; I'll fulfill your dream."_

"Shirou?"

The arms which had only attempted to lightly grasp at her before went for the kill, lunging at her with the intent of ripping her apart. Excalibur cut them all down, the blade swinging through the air. She had heard Shirou's voice. That meant he was alive. And that, in turn, meant that nothing was going to stop her.

And so she plunged onwards, and her vision changed.

_She was trudging through the ashes of a ruined city, her mind and body slowly falling apart. Then her legs gave out from under her and she fell. The last thing she saw was a kindly face staring down at her._

The scene blurred again.

_She was walking beside a middle aged man she called her "father", and fireworks were flashing on the night sky. The fire was no longer there. She was safe and had someone to make happy. The world was perfect, until-_

"_I have a secret I haven't told you- I'm a magician."_

_She was kneeling beside the same man, tears streaming down her face. He had enough time to grasp her hand one last time before his last breath left his body._

"_My diary… in… study… Shirou…"_

_Her hand hovered over a metal doorknob. Trembling, hesitating. Despite how much she had idolized her… father… she had not been completely blind. She knew that if she opened the door to the study, which she had never before visited, she would find secrets. Secrets she did not want to know._

_Her resolve broke and she fled away from the place, tears streaming down her cheeks._

_That moment of weakness and her consistent inability to overcome it would haunt her to this day._

And now things moved much faster, life advancing as nothing more than a confusing blur, when…

"_You know, for a moment I thought you might actually be the Seventh. It doesn't matter, though; I still have to kill you."_

_The spear went down, heading straight for her heart, but then there was a flash of blue light and she was staring at a beautiful woman, bathed in moonlight._

"_I ask of you – are you my Master?"_

_She was feeling Rin Tohsaka's lips on her own, feeling her try to make it cold and hard, but failing to hide something that left her weak at the knees._

_Her hands clenched around twin black and white swords. She had never used them before, but somehow they felt strangely familiar._

_She was charging at the man who killed her father. She wanted Justice, but for the brief second before her blade plunged into the man the desire changed into an unbridled lust for vengeance._

_Azoth found its target._

_She had won. Turning around to stare at the beautiful woman, all she knew was happiness._

_And then there was pain._

_And she was falling._

_Falling…_

_Falling…_

"SHIROU!"

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There had been pain. Darkness.

Blood flowing from his wound.

A mindless beast, its face vaguely reminiscent of what Kotomine once was, dragging him down to the depths of hell. Consuming him.

And then he'd woken up. Still in pain, still tired, but healed.

Someone had saved him. Someone was fighting the Beast.

'_Saber…'_

And there she was, sword held high, standing before the monster.

"You cannot win, Arturia," the Beast said, "Give in. That is after all, what Heroic Spirits must do when confronted by the might of the Holy Grail, is it not?"

Saber herself did not respond, but rather charged again, only to get batted aside like an annoying fly.

"Saber!"

Shirou knew it; this was the place he was going to die.

What he had not expected was for Saber to go down with him.

This was it. They were not going to survive. However, the Beast was wrong – just because they were going to die didn't mean they weren't going to win. Just as Saber lifted herself from the floor, preparing to attack again, Shirou, too, made a supreme effort to stand up, ignoring the pain in his body.

"Saber! Don't attack yet!"

The girl turned her head around, hope showing on her face as she saw him finally stand up.

"Shirou!"

"Saber… we won't survive this… but that doesn't mean we can't defeat the Grail! If we..."

"NO!"

The Beast roared and charged at them, a swipe of his claws throwing Saber aside, away from Shirou.

It was now or never.

Gathering his courage, Shirou lifted his left hand and pointed it at Saber, revealing his last command seal.

"Servant Saber, by the power conferred to me by this Contract, I order you to destroy the Holy Grail, no matter what you have to do!

"NO, NO, DAMN YOU-"

Shirou's last command spell flew from his hand, slamming into Saber. For one moment her face took on an emotionless, mechanical look.

"Yes, Master!"

Then she was back to herself, staring at Shirou with surprise written on her face, but the rest of her body was now acting of its own accord, energy spilling into her sword.

The Beast changed course from attacking Shirou to running at Saber, claws held high. But it was too late. Excalibur flared up with light, and an unearthly wind began to blow, knocking the Beast back.

Saber looked at Shirou one last time. They would never see each other again.

"Shirou… I love you…"

Shirou had no time to respond as the command spell took over again and Saber raised her blade high.

"EX-"

The Beast gave one final roar

"-CALIBUR!"

Golden energy flew from the sword, consuming the Beast, and then crashing against the walls of the mindscape, cracking them. Black fluid poured from the cracks. The energy, however, seemed to fight against it, causing the ooze to explode whenever it came into contact with it.

It was enough. The Grail would be destroyed from the inside.

But there would be a price to pay.

The walls of the mindscape shattered completely, darkness raining upon Shirou and Saber. Excalibur's golden energy spread out to destroy it, but it was too late – the ooze simply jumped over a surprised Saber, bathing her in defiled essence, and soon Shirou was struggling against it too. The last thing he saw before the bile consumed him was a magnificent auric blast; the last thing he heard were Saber's agonized screams.

---------------------------------------------

"Cold."

Amber eyes opened, their gaze unfocused.

"Where am I?"

A tired hand fumbled around, grasping nothing but dirt until finally coming into contact with soft white blonde hair.

"Warm… feels good…"

The eyes finally settled on the source of the warmth. A small, pale girl, sleeping peacefully inside a bundle of blankets.

"Ilya!?"

Shirou's mind snapped back into reality. He was at the temple grounds of Ryuudoji, apparently unharmed. The Grail was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm… alive?" Shirou marveled.

He didn't have time to dwell on it; there were other problems at hand.

If he was safe, and Ilya was safe, then that must mean…

"Saber!"

He scanned the room.

And then he saw her, and the cold that had taken over him moments before returned, numbing his body. Still, Shirou shook it off and crawled to Saber, kneeling beside her. If he had needed any more proof that there was something terribly wrong, seeing her up close was it.

Saber was there, but she didn't look like herself. And there was something about her…

Her skin was deathly pale. Her hair, too, had changed color, becoming barely a shade darker than Ilya's. Full black armor covered her body, and beside her, cleaved into the ground, was a black version of Excalibur, covered in glowing red runes.

But even this was not what set Shirou on edge – tattooed on Saber's delicate lower jaw, trailing along her neck were black markings drawn in intricate patterns, and it was from these markings that Shirou could somehow, someway, feel the wrongness… the corruption… emanating.

"Saber…"

At the mere mention of her name Saber's eyes snapped open, staring intently into Shirou's own. Here, too, the transformation had taken effect – the irises were no longer green, but gold.

Before Shirou could say anything the girl shook as if in pain, falling back into unconsciousness with only a single muttered word.

"Fight… ing…"

"Saber!?"

Shirou was at a loss. Saber was plainly, but what was the cause?

"Fighting… against what?" he wondered.

'_**The same thing that happened to you, only, let's say, a tad more… lethal.'**_

Shirou started, surprised by the sudden response. That voice sounded exactly like him, but darker, more arrogant.

"Where did you… Tell me what's happening to Saber!"

The voice chuckled.

'_**You want to know what happened? Why Shirou, you only need to look down at your hands!'**_

"My… hands…"

Shirou held up his right hand, staring at it closely. The skin was much paler, and the palm and back were decorated with complicated black tattoos. Fear started creeping up his body from the pit of his stomach. This…

He looked at his left hand. It was covered with the same marks as the right, down to the very last stroke. Desperate, he pulled back the ripped sleeves of his shirt, horrified at seeing his arms just as pale as his hands, the black markings continuing up his skin, losing their involved patterns as they went along until they looked more and more like an eerie infection.

"What's going on? _Who are you!?_"

An icy laugh echoed through Shirou's mind.

'_**Think of me as… your **_**better**_** half.'**_

TBC…

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_A/N: Anyone who's played the games will notice the blatant addition of elements from the Prince of Persia games, right down to the prologue's ending line. What can I say? I wanted to write an FSN story where Shirou's dark half shone through, and the Prince of Persia series, both the old and the new, (though The Two Thrones gets an honorary mention because that's where a large share of the ideas came from) provided excellent inspiration._


	3. Chapter II

**Disclaimer: Me no own FSN. Me wish me no owned this shitty chapter either.**

**(All credit for betaing goes to DarckRedd, as always)**

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**Chapter II: Teatro dei Piedi**

'_**Think of me as… your **_**better**_** half.'**_

"What… what do you mean?"

The Voice faltered for a second, only to speak again.

'_**It is likely something that the Grail did. All I can tell you is that it was dark, and then I could see through your eyes and speak in your mind.'**_

"So the Grail made you?"

Shirou could almost see the Voice sneer in response.

'**Made **_**me!? No, Shirou, I've always been a part of you.'**_

"That can't be," Shirou said, as his eyes roamed down the black tattoos in his arms, "you've never spoken before, and this…"

'_**Just because I couldn't speak doesn't mean I didn't exist. Incidentally, you can shut that mouth of yours; it has gotten us into so much trouble lately. I can hear what you think perfectly well.'**_

'_Really?'_

'_**Yes, really. By the way, don't you think you've been forgetting something while we spoke?'**_

"Saber!"

Shirou reached out towards the girl, grabbing hold of her by the shoulders.

'_She's still breathing. Just resting. Saber…'_

Slowly, almost unconsciously Shirou reached out with his tattooed right hand. There was just something so _intriguing_ about them, something that made Saber seem even more beautiful than she already was…

'_**I really don't think that's a good idea-'**_

The warning came too late. The tattoos on Shirou's hand touched Saber's skin. Saber's bright gold eyes snapped open; he felt himself being thrown through the air.

'_What the-'_

He didn't have time to finish that thought as his body hit the ground with a sickening crunch.

"Argh!"

'_**Damn it! Watch out!'**_

Shirou ignored the pain and dove the side. A black blur sped by him, striking a wall with explosive force.

'_Saber!'_

Almost as if responding to his thought the girl turned around to face him, and Shirou could finally see her face – it was completely unreadable, the look in her eyes dull, as if she were simply staring into the air.

'_Saber… she can't control herself!'_

'_**Don't dwell on that, she's-'**_

Saber was gone, and the murderous black blur was back, charging at Shirou at full speed. Shirou once again dived to evade her sword, but he knew he wouldn't be able to survive if things kept going like this.

'_**Distance, we need to place some distance between us and her… jump back!'**_

'_What?!'_

'_**Just jump!'**_

Shirou did so just as Saber charged again, flexing his knees… and propelling himself off the ground, soaring through the air and landing on the other side of the temple courtyard, away from Saber.

'_**I was right! It worked!'**_

"How… how could I do that?"

'_**It has something to do with-'**_

The feeling of a cold gauntlet surrounding his neck… nearly crushing his windpipe…

Saber lifted Shirou off the ground by the neck, dull golden eyes staring at him intently.

"Shi… rou…"

She raised her right arm, pointing Excalibur at Shirou's chest.

'_**She's about to stab us, do something, fool!'**_

'_But, she's Saber, I…'_

The girl in question reared her arm back to stab him, and before Shirou could even finish his own thought he felt his own muscles respond. His left arm, previously inert, danced under Excalibur's blade, catching Saber's wrist.

Saber's grip instantly tightened on Shirou's throat; Shirou's other arm rose to hold her back.

Even the Voice seemed surprised.

'_**My assessment was off, it would seem. Not only can we evade her, but we can also stop her in her tracks! We are truly… amazing, don't you think?'**_

'_How could you be thinking about that- Saber?'_

Shirou's attention was immediately redirected as his Servant's grip on his body weakened, prompting Shirou to loosen his own grip. His feet touched the ground again.

"Shirou… Emiya Shirou…"

Saber's eyes closed, and her head was lowered, as if she were tired. Shirou released a breath he'd been holding since she stopped her attack.

"She's calmed down. Saber..."

He took a tentative step toward her.

The kick came out of nowhere. Saber's eyes snapped open and Shirou was sent soaring backwards. His body collided with something hard.

'_What was that…?'_

'_**I think that may have been… our spine breaking, can't be certain… oh, shit.'**_

In seconds Saber had bridged the distance between her and Shirou, and now she stood before him, sword raised high, the markings on her neck fully exposed to his view.

'_Those tattoos… they're almost… wait!'_

Shrugging off his pain, Shirou dove under the sword, throwing himself at Saber and extending his arm just enough so that the markings on his hand touched Saber's tattoos once more.

There was a resounding clank as Excalibur was dropped to the ground. Saber's golden eyes met Shirou's, slowly losing their dull quality as her face finally seemed to express lucidity.

"Shirou… what's going on?"

Shirou smiled.

"Saber! I can't really explain but- what… what's wrong?"

The girl's body was stiffening a bit, her face getting redder, and the tattooed skin under Shirou's hand getting progressively warmer. Her only answer to Shirou's question was parting her pale lips to let out a small, low-pitched moan.

'_**I really think it'd be a good idea to stop touching her…'**_

"Master!"

Shirou's hand practically flew off Saber's neck as he finally caught on to what he was doing to her, but it was too late. Saber shook her head as her expression changed again, her normal demeanor giving way to something Shirou had never seen on her – a smiling, sultry look. Her hand moved to the back of her head, pulling her blue ribbon and undoing her braided hair.

"Master…" she said again, but it was more of a purr than anything else.

'_What did I-'_

Shirou didn't even have time to finish. Saber's pushed him against a wall; her lips pressed to his own.

'_This… isn't bad… at all…'_

Shirou had to put a stop to it; Saber started groping his chest, attempting to rip what remained of his shirt away from his body. His right hand frantically cast around him, until his arm connected with Saber's neck.

It worked.

Saber's froze, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Master… I mean, Shirou, I…"

Shirou raised his hands in a calming gesture.

"I'll tell you everything I know once we get back home with Ilya, but for now… let's keep a bit of distance between us, okay?"

Saber nodded, but she still looked faintly unnerved.

"Yes, Master…"

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A phone was ringing.

'_Someone stop that infernal noise…'_

The thing hadn't stopped for at least a full minute, disturbing the sleeper.

'_Shut up, dammit, let me sleep…'_

The ringing continued.

"Argh!"

Rin burst from beneath the covers and answered the phone.

"_Good morning, we're calling to see if you'd be interested in-"_

Rin hit her limit.

"_**I DON'T WANT ANY!"**_

She slammed the phone into the receiver.

Rin moaned softly as she collapsed back on the bed. She felt as if a truck had run her over. Several times.

'_I think there's some aspirin around here somewhere…!'_

But as Rin searched, something odd struck her.

This was not her room.

"Where the _hell _am I?"

She remembered little, fuzzy memories mixing with each other. She'd been at Emiya's house, right? And Kotomine had attacked…

'_Shirou and Saber must have found me… yes! They did, and I…'_

It was all becoming clear to her now. She was still at Emiya's place. He and Saber found her while wounded, and as they dressed her wounds. She had actually given Shirou a rather impassioned speech, telling him not to mess things up. Afterwards, she'd handed him Azoth, and…

'_Oh, crap. I didn't… shit.'_

…she'd fallen asleep.

Without explaining to Shirou how to use the dagger properly.

Rin blinked.

"Emiya! Shiiiit...!"

She bolted out of the room, her previous pain set aside as she ran into the hallway. Finding Shirou was of the utmost importance.

'_Emiya… dammit, if only you weren't so __**dense**__! Shit… is he even back yet? He should be, if he managed to win, but what if…'_

Rin resisted the urge to consider the implications of Kotomine defeating Shriou and crossed the hallway, heading for the stairs. Once she reached them she started going down, finally getting to the living room.

'_He's not here… dammit, I need to-'_

"Tohsaka-senpai? You-" Sakura shrieked.

Rin turned quickly, coming face to face with a blushing Matou Sakura.

Her sister.

The one she'd barely talked to since rescuing her. The one that should still be resting in one of Emiya's rooms.

"Sakura, what are you doing here?" Rin asked. Brusque, perhaps, but now was not the time for affection.

Sakura, however, seemed to take no notice of the question, her eyes apparently glued to…

'_Why's she staring at my crotch like that? Wait a minute-'_

It was then that Rin came upon the startling realization that, in her haste to stop Emiya from messing things up and allowing the Grail to destroy the world, she'd forgotten to dress.

Therefore, the only things currently protecting her modesty were the bandages around her chest, black stockings, and…

"To-Tohsaka-senpai! B-black lace p-panties!? _Al-almost see-through…_"

"I- Sakura… now's not the time for that!" Rin exclaimed, desperately trying to fight off the blush that was forming on her cheeks. "There's something more important than my… look, if we don't find Emiya _**right now**_, he's bound to do-"

The living room entrance burst open, and in came Shirou and Saber, the latter carrying Ilya in her arms.

"-something stupid."

Shirou looked around with something akin to bewilderment, color tingeing his face as his eyes, looking at both of the girls before him, finally took note of Rin's almost naked body.

Rin tried to do something. Blink. Raise an eyebrow. Look like her usual sophisticated self. However, the sheer stupidity of what appeared to have happened prevented her from doing more than shaking her head and voicing a question that looked like it was about to become more and more common in her life.

"Emiya… what the _hell_ did you do?"

There was no response, because Sakura collapsed to the floor.

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A/N: Ugh.

There are no words to describe how shitty this chapter is, and after such a wait, too. The reason? Let's just say I'm never writing late at night again. It fucks everything up. Hell, this is probably the first time I've come to truly appreciate the work of my beta, DarckRedd – removing 500 words of pure, unadulterated shit is a damn tough job. But even so, when I compared this fully edited thing to something I wrote in the morning while lucid and fully rested, it _still_ looked like crap. Guess there are some things that require nothing short of a miracle to fix, and this chapter's one of them.

Sigh. Well, I'll probably come back and rewrite this piece of crap later, but right now I'll be concentrating on getting another FSN project out into the public view, one which I've written strictly during the daylight hours after food and exercise. And believe me, it shows.

Until later,

-KW.

P.S

And btw, people, if you're going to place me into your alerts, please take the effort to leave a review. For that matter, if you're going to leave a review, please take the time to criticize the work. Mindless praise doesn't help anyone, really. At all.


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